PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread II

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by NJBrian

It's so funny that this is the work of the same people that would be protesting such an act like tearing down a beautiful historical and valuable building because of "money" and "lack of resources". Let's replace William Way in this case with say any national retailer or real estate developer and the second they announce this building is being torn down they would be protesting and performing all kinds of hysterics. And don't start with me on this as I am an openly gay man that supports the mission of the center. They need to try a little harder on this one or they may lose my support on everything.

I am too. I sent a letter to them that I cant continue to support or refer people to poor stewards of local and LGBT history. Id recommend writing to them too, they have a contact form on their website. I am beyond pissed off about this one. They could also just as easily sell the building and use the proceeds to build somewhere else.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by PurpleWhiteOut

I am too. I sent a letter to them that I cant continue to support or refer people to poor stewards of local and LGBT history. Id recommend writing to them too, they have a contact form on their website. I am beyond pissed off about this one. They could also just as easily sell the building and use the proceeds to build somewhere else.

Did you just click "get in touch" on their website and write a message?
I will write to them.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Did you just click "get in touch" on their website and write a message?
I will write to them.

Thats all I did so hopefully they check it lol

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by PurpleWhiteOut

I am too. I sent a letter to them that I cant continue to support or refer people to poor stewards of local and LGBT history. Id recommend writing to them too, they have a contact form on their website. I am beyond pissed off about this one. They could also just as easily sell the building and use the proceeds to build somewhere else.

Thanks for the heads up. I will message them as well. They had plans back in 2022 to either keep the building and/ or at least preserve the facade and build a tower on top with housing. It looked pretty cool.

I don’t want get too much into the Washington Square West Historic District recision debate but I feel like both the PHC and upset property owners in the area need to sit down and work this out quickly. Both sides probably need to make some concessions before more stuff like this happens.

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Truly embarrassing... agree, the replacement will be a metal box...
Meanwhile there is a parking lot directly across the street.

Any remote chance this building can be saved?

It’s funny how we’re all pretty much in agreement on this (even though this is called Skyscraperpage) and yet r/philadelphia seems overjoyed it’s being demolished. The sub has become very very niche I think.

This is all part of a complicated situation stemming from the Washington Square West Historic District recision ruling. Good news is they’ve said they're pretty far off from development and demo permits haven’t been pulled yet.

Frankly, I have no clue as to what implications are from this ruling and at the moment, I don’t think preservation leaders in the city know either. I guess an individual nomination could be submitted that would re-designate it even though a judge nullified the entire district only a week ago?

A reversed historic district is pretty unprecedented so no one knows for sure what will happen, but I’m sure preservation leaders are in discussion as to figuring out Plan B.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

It’s funny how we’re all pretty much in agreement on this (even though this is called Skyscraperpage) and yet r/philadelphia seems overjoyed it’s being demolished. The sub has become very very niche I think.

Why in world are they happy about it?

At the very least, this better not get demolished and then left as a rotting hole for a decade (sounds familiar).

[skyhigh07]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Why in world are they happy about it?

At the very least, this better not get demolished and then left as a rotting hole for a decade (sounds familiar).

I think they’ve been told that the city needs to “evolve” and demolishing this kind of stuff = more units. I’m pro development, but I don’t think most on that sub really understand all the nuances of the issue. As you mentioned, one being good buildings get demolished in this city only to end up with pockmarked holes for a generation.

Apparently, the same architect that did John C Anderson Apartments will do this site. It will serve a good purpose, but again I’m not sure why they’re excited about the architect/developer. I really don’t think they think about anything beyond “more units=cheaper rent” - which is understandable but that’s basically the extent of it.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Not only that but I heard the plans are only 5 story now anyway. Theyve raised millions and I have a hard time imagining it's not enough for an overbuild or building a taller addition on the backside. It's our fine-grain scale, variety, and mashup of historic eras that set us apart and we should be encouraging growing while reusing our assets. Any city can become a tower on each block, but it's the complicated fabric and context that make our neighborhoods special

[NJBrian]

Glad so many of us agree on this. The property owners and developers just need to do better...to do a little more than just say "Eh it doesnt work for us, so let's knock it down and build a wonderful new cardboard "house" that in time no one will argue with us when we decide to tear it down to build again. We must remember that these old structures have multi-faceted value. First, the old saying "the don't build them like they used to" rings more and more true by the day. These new structures aren't made durability to allow them to exist for generations, they are made with profit and govermental and insurance regulation approval to the lowest standard in mind. Secondly, the old structures exist not just as buildings but the architects/designers that created thought of them as pieces of art, artistic expression and representation of society (specifically the city itself) at the time when they were built. Finally to build on that , they serve as a historical reference for the city they show what the city and who it' residents were at that point in time.

Ask these questions when you are the owner or developer facing the dilema of new versus old 1. Will what I build new have the quality and durabilty of what exist? Can I do both, with creative design and thought, can I keep what exist and add something new that pleases mostly everyone? Am I destroying a valuable piece of art and design? and with that destruction do I comprise myself and my beliefs for profit? Finally, when the wrecking ball hits the wall and the bricks crumble, will I be shamed for my part in destroying the history and fabric of Philadelphia (not just a city but historically one of the most important cities in the world)

We can do better, it's not that hard, we just have to try.

[PHLtoNYC]

Makes sense, given the dedicated parking.

Is another Trader Joe’s coming to Philly?
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/com...howRecommendationsR5L9USBK7X2V7#cxrecs_s

The California-based chain is set to move into a yet-to-be-built shopping center on the 1500 block of South Columbus Boulevard near Pennsport, according to MSC Retail marketing materials, including an email announcement sent Monday afternoon and a brochure posted on its website.

On Tuesday afternoon, the materials on MSC’s site were edited to remove several references to Trader Joe’s.
The earlier version of the MSC brochure — which had encouraged potential tenants to “join Trader Joe’s” — indicated a 12,000-square-foot grocery store could open as early as next year on the corner of Columbus Boulevard and Dickinson Street. The property is across the street from a Giant supermarket and within half a mile of an Acme, a Target, and a Walmart.

[NJBrian]

Here’s an update on William Way

https://whyy.org/articles/william-way-lgbt-community-center-new-headquarters/

Couple I thought so I take from this article. One, money seems to be a driving factor here Two, maybe the building had some inherent problems structurally or with the roof when they took it over but I seems to me as though maybe they just let things go to the point of where it’s now unsalvageable I think maybe some of the fault on the loss of this building to the state it’s at now and then of course to it being demolished has to be put on them. They said they had a fundraiser and didn’t raise enough money. Did they raise some money? Did they fix some things like the really important things that needed to be fixed? I don’t know just seems like they’re really focused more on those apartments above them than on anything that’s gonna be going on down below in the first two floors which should be their main focus they say in their “you know the building isn’t what William Way is but it sure seems like those floors of apartments are all about what they want to be in the future. I think there seems to be a loss of focus and of their overall mission here maybe they need some reminding of what they’re there for and what they’re supposed to be doing as always a lot of of these community and social groups start off with a great mission and a great idea and a lot of good things that they want to accomplish and a lot of times along the way greed, corruption, and all kinds of other 🞵🞵🞵🞵 comes into play and it all just starts looking like another big pile of smoking you know what.

You know it just seems like everybody wants to be a real estate developer these days. I like William . I am a graduate I’ve Rowan university in Glassboro, New Jersey, and I just read an article on today about their massive western campus expansion and a huge portion. If not a majority of this expansion of the campus is healthcare related not sounding too much like it’s educational and on the other part of it, which is under the healthcare umbrella is like a whole slew of single-family and multifamily dwellings and like I said here let’s remember what is the college doing? What is their focus? It’s education isn’t it teach teaching people so they can become more educated better people who can do bigger and better things for society as a hoe, but when a whole bunch of the campus is just a bunch of houses which it’s me sounds like they’re not actually for students or teachers, but other people that aren’t of the age of going to college like you know …seniors

[Justin7]

https://www.waygay.org/financials

Can someone explain to me where all of this money is going?

[BroadandMarket]

This is great news. Even if they turned the empty lots into beer gardens and watch parties for the World Cup, it will still going to sit vacant for a while. No demolition should be allowed until a real plan is formalized and funded. The former Rite Aid building is actually pretty cool and in decent shape. What is the Robinson building like inside? I know the outside is cool and historic obviously. If real plans materialize, I'm okay with demolishing everything but 10 and 12 S. 10th St.

I still think another Xfinity Live, apartments, hotel and retail is the way to go. Some type of Pennsylvania flagship (Crayola, Hershey, Yeungling) would be a no brainer.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...ast-sixers-demolition-market-street.html

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

This is great news. Even if they turned the empty lots into beer gardens and watch parties for the World Cup, it will still going to sit vacant for a while. No demolition should be allowed until a real plan is formalized and funded. The former Rite Aid building is actually pretty cool and in decent shape. What is the Robinson building like inside? I know the outside is cool and historic obviously. If real plans materialize, I'm okay with demolishing everything but 10 and 12 S. 10th St.

I still think another Xfinity Live, apartments, hotel and retail is the way to go. Some type of Pennsylvania flagship (Crayola, Hershey, Yeungling) would be a no brainer.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...ast-sixers-demolition-market-street.html

That's my guess too.

[PurpleWhiteOut]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

This is great news. Even if they turned the empty lots into beer gardens and watch parties for the World Cup, it will still going to sit vacant for a while. No demolition should be allowed until a real plan is formalized and funded. The former Rite Aid building is actually pretty cool and in decent shape. What is the Robinson building like inside? I know the outside is cool and historic obviously. If real plans materialize, I'm okay with demolishing everything but 10 and 12 S. 10th St.

I still think another Xfinity Live, apartments, hotel and retail is the way to go. Some type of Pennsylvania flagship (Crayola, Hershey, Yeungling) would be a no brainer.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...ast-sixers-demolition-market-street.html

Of course this is a wish-list if money is no object, but i think the Robinson building's facade would make for a GREAT residential entrance to a tower if they put a lit up logo on it like it used to have for the store

[PHLtoNYC]

Nice improvements, but how long until PHL needs a new (replacement) terminal?

Perhaps a plan to demo Terminals D, E, F (or E & F) and rebuild one large state of the art terminal? I know it would cost $5B+ and take a decade, but if a billion is available, why not start planning?? Although perhaps funding of that scale is not possible right now given our national climate...

(I am not crapping on PHL, its decent, but with the new LGA, EWR improving, plans for Dulles brewing, its time for PHL to think long term).

Philadelphia airport’s $500 million upgrade means more bathrooms, new terminal exits, and more
https://www.inquirer.com/business/phl-philadelphia-airport-250-upgrades-2026-20260311.html

Philadelphia is expected to receive an influx of visitors this year, and one of the first places many travelers see — the Philadelphia International Airport — is getting a $500 million upgrade for the occasion.

Those funds, which have been used to advance several projects at the airport, are part of a $935 million capital improvement agreement between the city’s Department of Aviation and the airlines that service PHL. The improvements are funded through airline and tenant fees as well as federal and state grants.

To be ready for them, PHL’s $500 million investment includes new landscaping, new paint, tiles, and carpeting in terminals, and bathroom renovations that allow for more stalls. Eight new restrooms are expected to open in May, according to Ottow.
The airport is adding new terminal exit lanes with modern glass corridors and doors, the first of which opened in August in Terminal D.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

Nice improvements, but how long until PHL needs a new (replacement) terminal?

Perhaps a plan to demo Terminals D, E, F (or E & F) and rebuild one large state of the art terminal? I know it would cost $5B+ and take a decade, but if a billion is available, why not start planning?? Although perhaps funding of that scale is not possible right now given our national climate...

(I am not crapping on PHL, its decent, but with the new LGA, EWR improving, plans for Dulles brewing, its time for PHL to think long term).

Philadelphia airport’s $500 million upgrade means more bathrooms, new terminal exits, and more
https://www.inquirer.com/business/phl-philadelphia-airport-250-upgrades-2026-20260311.html

Philadelphia is expected to receive an influx of visitors this year, and one of the first places many travelers see — the Philadelphia International Airport — is getting a $500 million upgrade for the occasion.

Those funds, which have been used to advance several projects at the airport, are part of a $935 million capital improvement agreement between the city’s Department of Aviation and the airlines that service PHL. The improvements are funded through airline and tenant fees as well as federal and state grants.

To be ready for them, PHL’s $500 million investment includes new landscaping, new paint, tiles, and carpeting in terminals, and bathroom renovations that allow for more stalls. Eight new restrooms are expected to open in May, according to Ottow.
The airport is adding new terminal exit lanes with modern glass corridors and doors, the first of which opened in August in Terminal D.

I want a grand airport with soaring celings. The low ceilings at PHL (especially in terminal B) are really depressing. The check in area is also miserably narrow and conjested. And the baggage claim is well, we know.

That being said, our food and drink options are second to none as far as airports go. An embarrassment of riches, tbh.

[BroadandMarket]

Terminals B and C are especially bad. I agree the low ceilings are bad throughout but I don't think you can retrofit the current terminals. Last I heard the major plan was to add new terminal space where economy parking lot is now, make departures/arrivals double decker roads and remove the Septa stops in each terminal in favor of one PHL transit station. This could theoretically at least allow a grand entrance/departure experience while still keeping the gates mostly the same.

Page 13 here: https://www.phl.org/drupalbin/media/Alternatives%20Development%20%2B%20Evaluation_0.pdf




There needs to be upgrades to landscaping and cleanliness everywhere outside.
The exterior garages have that terrible mostly black ballet mural, not Mural Arts best work IMO. It's mostly unclear what it is and totally uninviting. It should have been a living plant wall, glass facade or bright mural with light features.







In 2018 PHL had a contest with PHS for exterior landscape improvements and obviously never did any of the suggestions.
https://www.phl.org/drupalbin/media/phlimagemaker.pdf

[PurpleWhiteOut]

https://centercityphila.org/pressroom/ce...east-improvements-ahead-of-summer-events

Some more details on the coming short-term improvements coming to Market East in advance of the summer events, including new trees, new bus shelters, details on the pop-up retail and murals. Very happy to see this happen

[therealdawk]

This short term revamp of Market East is certainly better than nothing.
It's already mid March. Can they get all of this stuff done by May?